Research Study Shows Impending Growth of Smart Meter HAN Connectivity

It only stands to reason that as new technologies grow, those who use them will demand the means of monitoring their productivity. The easiest way to do that is via the same method everyone seems to do everything these days: through online connectivity. A recent report by Pike Research shows that 49 percent of smart meters will include Home Area Network (HAN) connectivity, giving your bandwidth one more mouth to feed, so to speak.

According to a Pike Research, “the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that HAN capabilities will be included in 49% of all smart meters shipped worldwide by 2013, and the North American HAN-enabled meter penetration rate will be even higher at 81% by the same year.” Senior analyst Bob Gohn notes that HAN connectivity has influenced a new generation of consumer smart grid applications; the next few years will see the public ready to widely adopt devices such as smart thermostats, energy information displays, and more.

Image via PG&E

Pike segments the smart meter market into two groups: basic meters which transmit energy usage over two-way communication networks; and Advanced meters which add remote disconnect and HAN features to basic functionality. Pike believes the basic meters will remain predominant at a user base of 51 percent, but the advanced category will hold a strong 49 percent.